To answer this you need to assess your space availability, local population size and local competition. For an automatic brush wash you need roughly 9 meters long x 4 metres wide for the wash pad and enough space to enter the wash without needing to stop your vehicle and re adjust your driving angle. a smooth turning circle is really important with enough space to stack up at least two vehicles.

For a jet wash you need a pad of 6 x metres long x 4 metres wide. the entrance space is far less important as drivers can usually enter a jet wash from the entrance, or the exit (and often the side)

What about the equipment specifications?

Brush washes

Firstly lets look at brush types. You have foam, P.E bristles or a combination of both. Foam has a great polishing effect on the vehicle and is better for the vehicle paintwork. It does not clean as well as P.E bristle brushes so its always a good idea to add high pressure wash too make up for this. I would always recommend using foam brushes to retail wash operators as the general public prefer them! If however you are a car dealer or need to wash a fleet of your own vehicles, then the P.E brushes will probably be better. The P.E brushes are cheaper to buy, and clean better than foam without the need to add high pressure.

High pressure wash? When looking at adding at adding a high pressure wash feature, you need to know two things. 1) what is the actual pressure. 2) what is the water volume? People are often duped into thinking they have purchased a great wash with a high pressure system, only to find that it doesn't produce enough water with enough pressure to make any real difference to the cleaning process. Compare specifications to with other quotes to know what you are getting!

Do your homework!

Before parting with your hard earn't euro's. Go and see operators washes and get a feel for what you are buying. How reliable is the equipment? What are the costs of parts and service? How well does the equipment wash? What is the lifespan of the equipment? These are really important questions that YOU the buyer need answered before the deposit goes down.

Selecting a jet wash

Here is what I would like for in a good spec jet wash to ensure reliability and performance.

1. Boom arms, to keep the hoses off the ground and increase their life span. 2. Stainless Steel Cabinet. to ensure a long life span. 3. A Good pump. Either a cat pump, Arimitsu pump or inter pump. This will ensure good pressure and great reliability! 4. Peristalticpumps. These give you great control over your chemical dosing which enables the use of high concentrates or low concentrates. 5. An air compressor. This is used to mix air with the chemical on the foaming brush for a great foamy show! 6. An electronic coinmechanism. This is far better than a mechanical unit as they are more reliable and are able to accept multiple coins and tokens! 7. Electric water heater. They are far more reliable than an oil heater an are also cleaner, safer and more environmentally friendly!

Selecting a Touchless wash.

In order to look at picking a touchless wash that works, I would simply say this. GO AND WATCH IT WORKING! Spend the day watching it working as not all machines are able to wash in Ireland. Some can and they do so brilliantly, but many makes don't so be warned!